Point Pelee National Park of Canada

Weather

Point Pelee lies within a climatic zone classified as humid continental. Rapid and non-periodic weather changes are characteristic of the zone that is strongly influenced by seasonal conflict between polar and tropical air masses. The climate of Southwestern Ontario is one of the most variable in Canada.

Surrounding Lake Erie greatly modifies the climate of the Park and exerts a stabilizing effect. In autumn, lake waters cool more slowly than the land and in spring, the land warms faster than the water. The influence of the lake is most evident during winter when low temperatures are raised above the average lows further inland. The mean January temperature of Leamington and Pelee Island is -3°C, (27°F) the warmest in Ontario.

Essex County has been jokingly called Canada's "banana belt." The label is probably an attempt to convince other Canadians, and maybe some Americans, that because Essex County doesn't have winter. Weather reports show however, that in an average year Windsor has 28 hours of blowing snow. Surprisingly, this is 13 hours more than Edmonton. So Essex County does have its winter, but on the whole it is shorter and milder than in most other areas of Canada.

The July mean temperature of 23°C (73°F) is the highest in Ontario. Lake Erie increases humidity in the region and humidity in the Park is probably greater than that experienced by the rest of Ontario.

Southwestern Ontario does not receive a large amount of precipitation (average 81 cm or 32 in.) annually. The Pacific coast receives 250 cm. (100 in.), and the driest part of Canada receives 18.8 cm.(7.4 in.). Point Pelee and Pelee Island record the fewest days receiving precipitation in the province - 75. The position of the Park, surrounded by lake waters, partly determines the amount of precipitation. Less rainfall is recorded over lakes and low-lying areas adjacent to lakes than is recorded inland.

Wind at Point Pelee prevails from the west at about 11-16 km/h (7-10 m.p.h.), however, because of the location of southern Ontario on cyclonic storm paths, winds are highly variable.

In southwestern Ontario, cloudiness reduces the amount of bright sunshine reaching the ground by about 50 percent of the possible total hours. In winter, the number of bright sunny days at ground level is reduced by 75 percent of the total possible.